Precast: Bugatti Puh-lease, Cellular Mitosis, Breath a Lie Sir, China Uber Alles, Forever Ford?
Yes, yes, the next installment of the Ford Death Watch is coming. Who'd a thunk I'd write 90 episodes of the GM Death Watch only to watch Billy's Blue Oval Boys hit the buffers first, and in such spectacular fashion? Maybe I should combine the two DW's and call it Death Race 2006. But then if The General and FoMoCo manage to limp through the year I'd have to change the name, which would fan the flames of the flamers who believe that just because something hasn't happened yet means it won't happen at all. In fact, I have a message for those stalwart loyalists who snigger at my ongoing insistence that The Big Two Point Five's sky is falling. Their sky is falling. And just be grateful I didn't start blogging in 1973, when Detroit's fate was sealed. I'll be here chronicling this story to the bitter end, and beyond. And I won't say I told you so once. On a more positive note, this is a fine Rioja, with tremendous body and a clean finish. Which is what I wish for both GM and Ford. May they rise Phoenix-like from the ashes to make gotta have cars that TTAC can review with our usual candor, passion and sarcastic flippancy; without having to borrow one from a dealer.
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For those who have solid memories of the early '80s, you can recall that Ford was indeed ready to cease building cars in North America - according to anonymous sources quoted in business wire services of the day. Moody's and Standard and Poors, as I recall, rated Ford's stock at the junk level. The reason was simple: product was poor and it was ugly. In 1979, Fortune magazine had a cover story entitled: Does Ford make the ugliest cars in the auto industry? For evidence, Fortune put the LTD, Thunderbird and some other forgettable cars, never to be collected except perhaps by museums ("This exhibit shows how bad it got in the American auto industry, circa 1974 through '84..."). But then, Ford made the Mustang Five-Oh. And finally, when they had figured out that front wheel drive wasn't just a passing fancy of American consumers, they built the Taurus. It might be hard to believe, but when the Taurus came out, it was a Big Deal. It became known as "the car that saved Ford." But then, Ford decided to built the Explorer. And middle-brow America had found their vehicle. By the time the Explorer and its cousin, the Mercury Moutaineer have become half-decent - with independent suspension at all four wheels and automatic transmissions that shift when they should - the marketplace has shifted big time. And who ever thought it would be a good long-term idea to build a machine called the Excursion and compete with the Suburban? That person deserves a TTAC article on whomever it is, as the Man (or Woman) who ensured Ford's doom. But yeah, miracles happen. The Taurus saved Ford in 1985. The Mustang reinvigorated Ford in 1964. And the "shoebox" Ford sedan and coupe saved Ford in 1949. But even as recently as 1985, the competition wasn't quite as fierce in the marketplace for automobiles - forget the trucks and SUVs, just automobiles. The South Korean companies are now major players, and likely will continue to be. The truly dumb thing, to my mind, was someone at Ford's decision to kill the Lincoln Town Car, perhaps one of the better cars they have. Could it be the same person who authorized the Excursion?
The situation at Ford makes me want to sing. Fairwell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies, fairwell and adieu you ladies of Spain, for we've received orders for to sail back to Boston, and so never more shall we see you again!
Whoa, is that the Flying V on the front of that Veyron?